HUNTSVILLE, Alabama—Numerous times, Cindy Davis, a Huntsville resident, has taken her 7-year-old daughter to the Big Spring International Park in downtown Huntsville, but this time, it was all different. She sat side-by-side with her daughter and a score of other enthusiastic attendants in the "Get Rhythm!" drum circle, having an exciting, hands-on educational session in the Panoply 2007.
For the past 26 years, the Panoply Arts Festival has been humming along every spring in Huntsville, Alabama, the well-known "rocket city" where the propulsion of Apollo moon-landing human flight was hatched. Its 26th offering this year just took place on April 27-29 in the scenic Big Spring International Park in downtown Huntsville.
This was a major event organized by the Huntsville Arts Council. The Festival presented the patrons with performances, exhibits, demonstrations and hands-on activities. Five performance stages or tents held concerts, jazz bands, drum circles, puppet shows, and ethnic dances.
"The festival has been fun to us, and my daughter enjoyed most of the activities she came along so far," said Davis, when asked about what the Panoply Festival means to the city of Huntsville. "The Panoply is like an artistic ornament added to the high tech environment of the city," she said.
This year, the Festival took a somewhat different approach, such as a brand-new festival administrative team, including a new director Stephen Burrell and two new volunteer chairpersons, Jarine Payne and Regina Kennington, and a more focused program that was designed to enhance the experience of the patrons.
Andrea Williams, media coordinator of the event, said in an interview with The Epoch Times, "We have swarms of fresh programming." According to Williams, the event has been revamped in a number of ways compared to last year's, which included more enriched stages, and more interactive content. Continued from last year's successful debut, the Global Village, a celebration of Huntsville's remarkable cultural diversity and a platform for different ethnic groups to showcase their culture, traditions, dances and costumes, has again attracted a large number of visitors. A parade of nations and ethnic groups was also conducted around the park.
"The International Performing Arts Stage in the Global Village has been a popular place for the patrons," said Williams. This year, among the dances and music from different cultures staged, the performances the Huntsville Chinese Association and the Huntsville Chinese School brought to the event have impressed many. Their lion dance, traditional dance and traditional Chinese woman costume show attracted a good number of spectators who constantly applauded. The Chinese costumes and dance movements performed this year have demonstrated a significant improvement compared to last year's program, due partially to the great efforts of the Teachers in the Huntsville Chinese School, including Maribel Van der Zijp and Selina Chan.
Both Maribel and Salina said they had attended the NTDTV's 2007 Chinese New Year Spectacular Show this February in Atlanta. After watching the show, they were fascinated by the dazzling costume design and the magnificent background images of traditional Chinese paintings and divine arts. They said they had many inspirations from the show for improving the Chinese dance design, training and performances at the school. That wonderful artistic experience contributed to the success of the Chinese dance and costume show in the Panoply 2007.
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